Refugees return to homes in northwest Pakistan

In Pakistan today, hundreds of internally displaced people continued to leave temporary camps, making their way home to villages and towns in the Swat Valley. The government began a multi-phase repatriation plan this week, which aims to return more than 20,000 families to Swat, Malakand, Dir and Buner districts.

Some two million in all have been displaced by fighting between Taliban militants and the Pakistani military. The government is giving the displaced $300 and a month's supply of flour, sugar, cooking oil and beans.

The UN refugee agency is on the ground to help monitor the exodus from the camps, and the return home. Rabia Ali is a UNHCR public information assistant in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.

“We are not there inside but what the government is saying is that they are working on the infrastructure and the basic facilities have been provided by the government this is what the government is reporting and these IDP´s have contacted their neighbors and their relatives and they feel fine going back.”

Ali says many families decided to leave the overcrowded camps because of the unhealthy conditions.

The major problem which was faced by these IDPs is the intense heat, the temperature is very high and its unbearable so we did provide them a shade over the tent, which would at least reduce the temperature by 3 to 4 degrees. Along with that the government provided them electricity, not 100% of the tents have received electricity but the government was working on it. There were some philanthropists who would come to distribute ice in the tents. Bearing in mind that these people have come from a cooler part of Pakistan, these people are finding it extremely difficult.”

Many displaced people are expressing concern that the government's operation is sending people back prematurely, before stability has been fully established. Some say they have no jobs to go back to and fear renewed violence from Taliban militants. The Pakistani government asserts Swat has functioning utilities and is safe and said police and military troops will remain in the valley to prevent militants from returning. The government also claims to have killed 1600 militants since it started the major attack on militants last April.

The military has recently been moving into South Waziristan, near the Afghanistan border, where it says it's concentrating its efforts on capturing Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.